Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Trading Up 3.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) rose 3.8% during trading on Thursday after Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded the stock to a buy rating. The company traded as high as $219.43 and last traded at $204.90. 33,983,297 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 102% from the average session volume of 16,785,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.41.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price target on shares of Qualcomm and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Qualcomm from $140.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm began coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. DZ Bank downgraded Qualcomm from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Qualcomm in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Qualcomm currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Patricia Y. Grech sold 829 shares of Qualcomm stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.77, for a total value of $167,267.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Cristiano R. Amon sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $1,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 197,568 shares in the company, valued at $35,562,240. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,806 shares of company stock worth $3,928,958. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualcomm

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualcomm this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm raised its fiscal 2029 non-handset revenue target to $40 billion, roughly double its prior goal, signaling a much larger growth opportunity outside the core handset business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled a data center AI roadmap targeting more than $15 billion in revenue by fiscal 2029, which strengthens the bull case for Qualcomm as an AI infrastructure player. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm announced a multi-generation data center CPU agreement with Meta, giving the company a marquee customer and validating its push into AI servers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm agreed to acquire AI software firm Modular, which could improve its software stack and help it compete more effectively in edge-to-cloud AI workloads. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The expanded Hugging Face partnership adds support for open, developer-driven AI deployment across Qualcomm’s device and data center platforms, reinforcing its AI momentum. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets after the update, including Rosenblatt, while TD Cowen reaffirmed a buy rating but with a lower target than the current trading level. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reuters reported Qualcomm is also in talks with ByteDance for chip-design services, adding another possible diversification avenue, though the deal is not yet confirmed. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider-trading data shows more selling than buying over the past six months, which may temper enthusiasm even as the stock rallies. Article Title

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Qualcomm by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Basepoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,333 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in Qualcomm by 0.6% during the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 10,085 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC boosted its position in Qualcomm by 2.6% during the third quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Qualcomm by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,401 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualcomm by 0.5% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,704 shares of the wireless technology company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 74.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Qualcomm Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $215.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.59.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The wireless technology company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. Qualcomm had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 42.11%. The business had revenue of $10.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 EPS. Qualcomm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualcomm has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.100-2.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Qualcomm Incorporated will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Qualcomm Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Qualcomm’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Qualcomm’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Qualcomm announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 17th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the wireless technology company to buy up to 14.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Qualcomm Company Profile

Qualcomm Incorporated is a global semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985, the company is known for its development of wireless technologies and for playing a central role in the evolution of digital cellular standards, including CDMA and subsequent generations of mobile standards. Qualcomm’s business combines the design and sale of semiconductor products with a patent licensing program for wireless technologies and related intellectual property.

The company’s product portfolio includes system-on-chip (SoC) platforms marketed under the Snapdragon brand, cellular modem and RF front-end components, connectivity solutions for Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth, and processors and platforms aimed at automotive, IoT, networking and edge-computing applications.